If Star Wars: The Last Jedi is your favorite Star Wars movie, here are 10 sci-fi movies you should watch. As far as the ranking of Star Wars movies goes, The Last Jedi holds a very peculiar position. After all, The Last Jedi is the movie that shattered the Star Wars fanbase in two.

Half of the fanbase deemed it a disgrace to the franchise George Lucas created, while the other half thought of it as a compelling, bold new direction in which to take an established IP. The movie holds a 41% audience approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, proving just how divisive and controversial Star Wars: The Last Jedi truly is.

Upcoming Star Wars movies will be looking to avoid this division, but there is no denying that The Last Jedi has its fans. For those who enjoyed the eighth chronological Star Wars movie, here are 10 sci-fi movies with stylistic and thematic similarities to The Last Jedi that you may enjoy.

10

Looper (2012)

Another Sci-Fi Movie From The Last Jedi’s Writer-Director

Perhaps the most obvious choice for this list is Looper. Looper is the movie that writer-director of The Last Jedi, Rian Johnson, made before stepping into the galaxy far, far away. Looper is a sci-fi, time-travel-based movie centered around the тιтular Loopers, bounty hunters whose targets are sent back in time from the future.

Like The Last Jedi, Looper is much more interested in being thought-provoking rather than just being another sci-fi movie of its ilk. The dynamic between Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s character Joe and his future self, played by Bruce Willis, is proof of this. The film’s villain and how it wraps up its story further showcase how Looper subverts expectations.

If The Last Jedi can be described as anything, it is subversive. The film decided to take Star Wars tropes and play around with them, much like Looper does with its specific niche of sci-fi. With Johnson’s particular flair for strong action and deeper takes on a well-known genre, Looper and The Last Jedi have a lot in common.

9

Dune: Part Two (2024)

A Sci-Fi Epic That Subverts A Very Specific Genre Trope

One of the biggest ways Star Wars: The Last Jedi subverts the tropes of its genre is via the character of Luke Skywalker. The depiction of Luke as an old, weary, disillusioned hermit as opposed to a wise, epic, legendary Jedi was one of the film’s most controversial decisions. In some ways, this can be applied to a movie like Dune: Part Two.

Frank Herbert’s original Dune novel was an inspiration for George Lucas’ Star Wars, meaning Dune: Part Two and The Last Jedi have broader sci-fi elements that link them together.

Dune: Part Two takes a typical genre trope that Star Wars has utilized, that of the Chosen One, and subverts it. Paul Atreides, a prophesied leader of men, is explored as more of a cautionary tale of power, prophecy, and religious fanaticism than an uplifting, benevolent hero’s journey, subverting the idea of a Chosen One.

The Last Jedi takes a much more human, flawed route with Luke’s character in a similar vein to Dune: Part Two‘s treatment of Paul Atreides…

In many ways, The Last Jedi does the same with Luke Skywalker. While Dune: Part Two goes much deeper with this aspect, Rian Johnson did not want to depict Luke Skywalker in the way many expected him to.

Instead, The Last Jedi takes a much more human route with Luke’s character in a similar vein to Dune: Part Two‘s treatment of Paul Atreides. For this reason, fans of the former and its depiction of a flawed hero may find things to like in Dune: Part Two.

8

Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

Another Subversion Of Some Sci-Fi Tropes

Blade Runner and Star Wars are two big sci-fi franchises that have influenced each other in many ways. The sequel to the former, Blade Runner 2049, was released in the same year as The Last Jedi, with the two sharing some thematic elements. For instance, Blade Runner 2049 also subverts the Chosen One trope and includes an aging, weary hero.

Blade Runner 2049 centers around the replicant – a bioengineered human – known as K. K discovers he may have been the first replicant to have been created via a natural birth, leading him to Harrison Ford’s Deckard, Blade Runner‘s protagonist. What ensues is an interesting story about parentage that, like Dune: Part Two and The Last Jedi, subverts what is expected.

The twists and turns regarding the parentage of K and the idea of a “Chosen One” are all addressed in Blade Runner 2049, though in ways many might not expect. With The Last Jedi doing the same for Luke Skywalker but also Rey, where her parents are concerned, there are some thematic similarities between the two.

7

Prometheus (2012)

A Prequel To The Alien Franchise

Released in 2012, Prometheus was the long-awaited comeback to the Alien franchise with Ridley Scott at the helm. Many simply expected a return to the franchise’s horror-infused sci-fi routes. While Prometheus has that to an extent, it took things in a very different direction from the highly ranked Alien.

Both The Last Jedi and Prometheus are very different from Star Wars and Alien…

Prometheus tried to answer some big questions in its story, tying things back to Alien with a sci-fi grandeur that was not necessarily expected. The big themes, explorations of creation, and wider questions of the galaxy caused many to view Prometheus very differently when compared to Alien.

The Last Jedi is similar in that it tried to answer Star Wars questions that some felt did not need answering. The broader explorations of the Chosen One trope and the questions about bloodline and heritage were somewhat new for Star Wars. Evidently, both The Last Jedi and Prometheus are very different from Star Wars and Alien, respectively.

6

Alien: Covenant (2017)

Prometheus’ Sequel

The sequel to Prometheus was Alien: Covenant. Everything that Prometheus did, Alien: Covenant expanded upon. Yes, there were more, well, aliens, but Covenant continued the exploration of the grand questions that Prometheus started. As a result, it compares favorably to Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

5

The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

Another Star Wars Film With Plot-Based Similarities

While you could watch any other Star Wars movie if The Last Jedi is your favorite of the bunch, The Empire Strikes Back is arguably the most similar to the 2017 installment. The Empire Strikes Back explored deeper themes than Star Wars did, which many would agree is true for The Last Jedi when compared to Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Even beyond that, though, the stories of both movies are similar. In The Empire Strikes Back, the central Jedi figure goes off to a distant planet to train with an old master while his friends evade a movie-long chase by Darth Vader and the Empire. The Last Jedi is essentially this, with Rey and Luke filling in for Luke and Yoda.

On the other side of the story, the Resistance heroes being endlessly chased down by the First Order emulates Han and Leia’s story in The Empire Strikes Back. Everything then culminates after the Jedi figure leaves their training early, drawing many plot-based similarities between the two.

4

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

A Long Chase Movie

Mad Max: Fury Road‘s version of futuristic, post-apocalyptic sci-fi is very different from Star Wars: The Last Jedi. That said, the similarity between the two is found in the plot. As alluded to above, The Last Jedi is essentially one big chase movie; the same can be said about Mad Max: Fury Road.

Both movies are about the heroes trying to simply survive while they get from point A to point B. Of course, the setting and high-octane action of Mad Max: Fury Road differentiate it from The Last Jedi. Nonetheless, fans of the latter may enjoy the similar, albeit faster, story of the former.

3

The World’s End (2013)

Edgar Wright’s Final Three Flavors Movie

The World’s End is the third movie in the Three Flavors trilogy, succeeding Shaun of the ᴅᴇᴀᴅ and H๏τ Fuzz. As such, it is much more grounded than the epic sci-fi of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, but it is sci-fi nonetheless.

The action-adventure sci-fi vibe of The World’s End alone is enough to draw some comparisons to The Last Jedi, but the two have somewhat similar main characters. The World’s End‘s Gary King is trying to recapture the glory days with his friends, despite suffering some deeper mental health and trauma issues.

The Last Jedi is about Rey trying to get Luke Skywalker to recapture his glory days and face down the First Order. Luke, however, suffers from his own mental issues. When combining these deconstructions of main characters with the sci-fi trappings both have, The World’s End can be enjoyed by those who love The Last Jedi.

2

Logan (2017)

Wolverine’s Swan Song

As a superhero movie, Logan faces the argument of being sci-fi at all. That said, it contains an almost dystopian future and is much more grounded than the overtly fantastical stories of the X-Men movies. Therefore, Logan is much more akin to realistic sci-fi than a superhero flick, with some similarities to The Last Jedi.

Logan explores an aging, weary version of Wolverine who embarks on a quest he soon discovers is bigger than himself. Logan takes the тιтular character from cynical and depressed to more hopeful and heroic, which The Last Jedi does for Luke.

Luke Skywalker’s story was criticized in The Last Jedi, but no one can deny that he becomes a hero by the end of the film. Luke’s sacrifice to save the Resistance and restore hope to the galaxy and future generations is strikingly similar to Logan‘s third act, meaning the 2017 superhero film is one that those who love The Last Jedi could enjoy.

1

Arrival (2016)

Another Thought-Provoking Sci-Fi Movie

The final sci-fi movie that fans of The Last Jedi should watch is Arrival. Arrival is about the first contact with a specific group of aliens, which the film explores via the use of language. As a result, Arrival is much more of a thinking-person’s sci-fi film than the genre is known for, which The Last Jedi somewhat is regarding Star Wars.

Arrival is the third Denis Villeneuve movie on this list after Dune: Part Two and Blade Runner 2049.

Arrival is much smarter and more in-depth than The Last Jedi, but the two have similar themes. For one, Arrival plays on the theme of time. The Last Jedi does do, if only in a different way. In The Last Jedi, flashbacks are used to explore a point in time from different perspectives.

Arrival is somewhat similar in that it uses time as a way to deconstruct typical sci-fi, first encounter narratives. For this reason, as well as Arrival‘s exploration of deeper elements than typical sci-fi movies, fans of Star Wars: The Last Jedi should check it out.